Beartooth Pass conditions?

[Djongo Unchained]

I just got home from a quick trip up to the Pass.
I'll unload the full details later but here's a few tidbits...

They have a daily capacity of 80 tickets. They were all sold out Sat. am from online sales unless you wanted to buy a season pass there at the summit. 2 Dudes in front of us did.
I think they are cash only now, but maybe not. The check thing is funny.

It was bulletproof and sketchy to start which made for some great spectating.

Less snow up there than usual and won't last as long as usual.

Camping was awesome.
In YNP, they had a sign at Mammoth and another at Tower that said BT hwy. Closed. Only exiting the park at the NE gate did it say BT Hwy. open.


On the summit...


Rock creek Couloir looking very nice...




The Basin headwall from the road switchback.



Skiing was good but a bit firm and slick in a few popular lines. The first few in were showing off some Ikonic skillz. It was hilariously tragic to watch.

[MegaStoke]

I just pulled the trigger on tickets for the 13th and 14th. Fingers crossed for good conditions those days. What’s the lowdown on camping nearby?

[Benneke10]

I like the camping along Rock Creek on the N side of the pass

[uglymoney]

The Griswolds are warm weather hot waxed and loaded for Bear...tooth. Black Hills tonight. Yoyo ing from Greenough Lakes campsite all week for anybody who wants to ask for change. Daughter is stoked for a day of drop in to a camp Tuesday and maybe more since the price is super affordable. I think we have a room in town Friday night and the campsite for maximum flex.

Stoked for a week of car camping bliss.

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[MontuckyFried]

Thanks for the heads up Djongo. Looks like Rock Creek wall's just the ticket, as per usual. Love that place. Perfect for easy laps. Not sure coverage is gonna hold up long enough for me to make it in time tho in the next few weeks.

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[stuckathuntermtn]

Alright. Headed out there to camp between Red Lodge and Beartooth pass. Sounds like I should buy in advance.
What's the deal with conditions, bulletproof in the morning and fun from 12 to 1? Can one ski down to the road and hitch back up? The Gardiner Headwall is there somewhere right? What's the Rock Creek wall? I assume BC has stabilized? I have shovel, beacon, probe. I can skin. Slowly.
Do cell phones work up there? Guessing not if they don't take cards.
Food situation?

Give me the JONG breakdown.
I assume I'd be skiing Saturday.

[2FUNKY]

Conditions: sleep in and ski late morning until yer legs quit.
Only a couple spots to do ski to car shuttles.
Gardner headwall is there somewhere, same with Rock creek. Lots if info detailing the lines on the web. Better if someone would be willing to show you.
Others can chime in about BC stability. Should be super stable.
No idea on cell phones, didn’t last time I was up a few years ago. We used radios to for comm.
food: be self sufficient, bring food water etc. Have fun, that area is sick and you will find yourself staring at lines off in the distance for long periods of time.

[anotherVTskibum]

Re food, there are at least a handful of restaurants and a crappy grocery store in Red Lodge. Driving back and forth while camping close to the pass would be an ass pain, though, so planning to be more self sufficient than not (and having a good plan to keep a clean campsite and not have Yogi show up looking for picnic baskets) is probably the best plan.

In fairness to the grocery store, I haven't been there in a few years now, so I'm just assuming that they still make up for a lack of selection with high prices. They could have changed.

Gardiner and Rock Creek are pretty easy to scope from the road, but having help to actually find the top of RC the first time (or three) is strongly advised, particularly when not all the lines go (which the photos I've seen suggest to be the case).

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[Benneke10]

In fairness to the grocery store, I haven't been there in a few years now, so I'm just assuming that they still make up for a lack of selection with high prices. They could have changed.

That is still the case, although they have some mediocre fried chicken that is pretty cheap if you're into that sort of thing. They also can have pretty good Flathead cherries in June. I recommend picking up groceries in Billings if you're coming from that direction.

Red Lodge restaurants are mostly tourist traps and all are expensive. La Palmita makes decent burritos and the best value food in town (low bar). Natalie's Front Bar has good burgers and bar food.

Cell coverage is pretty spotty on the pass, you can get it on high points but it can get blocked by clouds and the ski area itself doesn't really have much reception.

[Benneke10]

Red Lodge also has a tourist town tax on restaurants and some groceries while food is tax free in most other Montana towns.

[CHAIR_97]

Stole this off my buddy's insta story since someone brought up stability. This is lookers (way)right of the ski area in an area I call (maybe incorrectly) hourglass.
Not sure what happened but use common sense and be careful around hanging cornices .

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[anotherVTskibum]

Red Lodge also has a tourist town tax on restaurants and some groceries while food is tax free in most other Montana towns.

It's a luxury tax, so it's not supposed to apply to groceries or other necessities, but it would to prepared food (so some IGA purchases would count). There's very little verification that businesses are applying the rules correctly, though (I found it annoying that the True Value applied the tax to drain opener, which doesn't exactly meet my definition of "luxury").

Red Lodge is a tourist town, and the restaurant scene does reflect that. I don't consider the Front Bar or Foster and Logan's to be expensive (unless you go beyond a beer or two), but they're not competing with fast food prices, either. A lot of places have traditionally offered some midweek deals; I don't know if staffing challenges post covid may put a damper on that.

The midweek happy hour margarita pricing at Bogart's is probably worth noting, but trying to drive back to a campsite afterwards may not be a great decision.

ETA: if it's not obvious, I do have a bit of a bias—I worked part-time for one of those restaurants while I lived there—but the ability to go out for a $30-40 dinner and beer and have a good range of food options is one of the things I really miss having moved to another tourist towns with a much shorter list of restaurant options.

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[total_immortal]

All this tourist chatter and no mention of Bear Creek Downs? Good steak, cheap drinks, and betting on pig races. I highly recommend it.

[cydwhit]

Alright. Headed out there to camp between Red Lodge and Beartooth pass. Sounds like I should buy in advance.
What's the deal with conditions, bulletproof in the morning and fun from 12 to 1? Can one ski down to the road and hitch back up? The Gardiner Headwall is there somewhere right? What's the Rock Creek wall? I assume BC has stabilized? I have shovel, beacon, probe. I can skin. Slowly.
Do cell phones work up there? Guessing not if they don't take cards.
Food situation?

Give me the JONG breakdown.
I assume I'd be skiing Saturday.

Was up there this weekend. Conditions were slushy all day, we started skiing around 9:30 I believe and it wasn't firm at all. Don't think it froze overnight on Saturday. Rock Creek camping was a shit show. The blight of Yellowstone overflow is real. We did a lap looking for some homies and bailed back up the pass to camp up high. Skiing was really good all day, fun slush bumps and cool lines. Seems like snow is melting fast. Didn't drop below 40 the night we slept up top.

Cell phones are basically worthless from Gardiner to Red Lodge, which is sorta the point.

[Benneke10]

Cell phones are basically worthless from Gardiner to Red Lodge, which is sorta the point.

The Cooke City Museum has some decent free wifi, its saved me for some important work calls before

[Harry]

All this tourist chatter and no mention of Bear Creek Downs? Good steak, cheap drinks, and betting on pig races. I highly recommend it.

I was just telling Djongo yesterday about the pig races. As many times as he has been by there he had no idea. Highly recommended “only in Montana” entertainment.

That is a great pic. Those little piggies haul ass.


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[2FUNKY]

Heh, forgot about the pig races. Excellent entertainment!

[twat]

Oh my god. a ski place with pig races. another place on earth i want to visit.
i bet 5$ on number 7. go piggy, go

[stuckathuntermtn]

This all sounds great. So, maybe a little skiing in the morning and shooting with a leftist gun group in the afternoon.
Should I bring rock skis and stay in bounds? Too limiting?

[stuckathuntermtn]

Ah fuck. Website size suspended right now for broken motor. Still worth it to bring skis?

[yeahman]

Ah fuck. Website size suspended right now for broken motor. Still worth it to bring skis?

Where are you seeing that?

[stuckathuntermtn]

Lift ticket sales page
I'll call tomorrow

[stuckathuntermtn]

Ok, so, no side country from inbounds, or at least it doesn't look like either Rock Creek or Gardner is?
Our campsite reservation is for Rock Creek apparently. What's the deal?

[east or bust]

Fuck, that sucks. Hopefully they get it fixed soon.

Been meaning to post up some pics and general impressions from DJ and I’s trip last last weekend.


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[2FUNKY]

Ah fuck. Website size suspended right now for broken motor. Still worth it to bring skis?

Yes. Beartooths have a shit load of killer terrain to ski that’s not the ski area.